In short: small but perfectly formed because you run for the Poppy, not for yourself. Friendly, fast and well organised.In full: whilst fast and flat, forget your garmin, no clock here. you run to give for those who gave so take in the purity. your race starter and medal giver is a highly decorated veteran.out and back course on the sea wall, whipping wind and burning sun yet peaceful and understated. collect your medal and RBL bag and enjoy free tea in china and sandwiches from the wonderful RBL ladies who sell to die for hand knitted poppies. JUST FOR ONCE, DITCH THE RACE EGO AND SUPPORT THIS TINY RUN st Dymchurch, the small town with a big heart. We travelled a total of over 3 hours today for just 5k and we'll do the same next year. Date of review: October 27, 2013

In short: a lovely day for a well-organised and friendly race in a great town. Perfect!In full: Warmest day of the year so far, so did puff a bit on the way round. And it was like Crufts Creche with loose dogs and toddlers all over the course! But this was more than made up for by a buzzing little May Day Fete right by the start line, beautiful views and friendly atmosphere. Recommended as the one race you should bother putting your shoes on for next year.Date of review: May 6, 2013

In short: pleasant country run just offsets the teasing undulations, no frills, BRING YOUR OWN WATER!!!In full: We'll start with the negatives. Water stations at 4 and sometime after 7 seems a bit cruel, especially as they are before the harder hills. This has been remarked upon year on year so we came prepared. Whilst £15 is cheap, a plastic cup of water at the finish (not even a 250 ml) bottle is a bit tight. We've had FGS drinks and bananas and biscuits at cheaper or equivalent 10ks. A medal is your reward so don't expect any treats. Full of club vests and fast times despite the undulations, but it is a good run for this time of year. It is quite hard but not a killer and pefectly achievable irrespective of your ability. A mixed field so anyone can go for it. Some encouraging marshals, a cheering ambulance team around mile 3 and enough supporters throughout to keep you going and give a bit of atmosphere, so huge thanks to though who braved the rain and cold today. So take it for what it is: a well attended testing run that is the reward in itself. Bring your own water and if you need your back patting, take a mate with a diy goodie bag to give you at the end. So give it a go. And we probably would again. [joint review by sub 1 hr and sub 1hr 29 so a balanced mix]Date of review: January 29, 2012

In short: Friendly, stripped-back organisation. A perfect intro to small and cosy trail marathoning.In full: Everything about this race was great great great. The attractive and polished website made the event very appealing. The cost of the event (£40 for one day, £70 for the two) seemed slightly steep at first look but I can tell you it's good value for a lovingly constructed small event (25 runners tops) with lots of munchy goodies and water every 10k, a packed goody-bag including a great technical event t-shirt, a HH base layer, special medal, funky fridge magnet and a can of Strongbow!The event is essentially flat with mixed terrain, good for fastish times. Read the comprehensive website info but basically there is no need for marshaling and impossible to get lost - a good thing as, apart from timekeepers at the end of each of the 4 x 10kish there-and-back laps along the mainly pebble, grass and tarmac-topped sea defences there isn't any! I overshot in the first lap but this error was down to me not reading the instruction properly. This stripped-down organisational approach totally enhanced the experience for me... the race started at sunrise, with cloudless sky and frost and ice on the ground and apart from the occasional greetings with walkers and other competitors I had only the sight and sound of the surf and my own footsteps for company. In summary, I think this is a great race both for experienced distance runners sick of mass participation cattle-prodding and harking back to the days of home-made racing for the love of it, and for new recruits to the concept of trail running. I may even do the Sunday event next year! Thank you, the runners of Deal! Jim&Keri, team HBDate of review: December 10, 2011

In short: refreshing blast: good for speed, good for friendliness, good support and raising £ to boot.In full: A leveller of a race. lovely to see a sea of blue charity colours. 3 choices of races, no club vests, fast runners and newbies. cheerleader with the megaphone deserves a mention for cheering and praising everyone. Not enough marshalls (or alertness in those there were), course was different to map with a lack of markers for those first off in the lead (my hub)and maybe holding it a bit earlier instead of 11am would ease congestion with the park users. Overall, good support and contact prior to the race, good turn out from the charity and good choice of distances. Thumbs up to the Stroke Association and to the racers, many of whom came in smiling and sprinting. @GAVIN: you got flanked by jim a-b, my husband, he is a speed demon and the other 15k star regularly wins his races so you did well. They were pretty much flying.Date of review: October 16, 2011

In short: Ultra clubby, indecisive: organised race or DIY style? Hang on to the GC vets!In full: Considering some info is sent in advance the rather long coded instructions are given out on the day. I FAIL to see the harm of sending them in advance, it would still be challenging on the day. We were in a group with 2 vets of the race and we still got lost!! Whilst some spray paint was welcome, there was a lack of it in some of the woods, especially at junctions in those woods. I am ever thankful to to the lovely 2 NEJ who herded us and 2 others into a pack of six to run together form mile 11. They were invaluable and we would have been in trouble without them. I only spotted two of us running for charity and the bulk of the race is entered by clubs. That said, I didn't feel unwelcome. It was a tough choice for my marathon so the ''undulations'' and multi terrain broke me in roughly. My hub, a vet of 100+ marathons, says the course is verging on orienteering and if it is aimed at any group then that is that or an elevated club race. We were lucky we knew the area and had two vets. He says the terrain has steep gradients and would challenging to anyone. The scenery was great - woods to bleak Erith thames path (with unpleasant smells). Checkpoints were fab with water, squash, biscuits and mars bars. Less confident runners take a taxi number and £10! Am I critical? No. Suits compass and map readers and GPS: course isn't marked out and no mile markers. If you are a beginner, like me, take support or latch into a group with New Eltham Joggers. Strenuous but pretty tour of the the gorgeous, for it is, south east london. I've got VLM next year and am now confident for that as a result and it's a real achievement doing this. My hub will do it next year for a competitive challenge.Date of review: September 19, 2011

In short: no frills, basics but easy to nab pb.In full: if you want to know your time, come prepared with a watch as you are stopwatched in at the end (without a timer, it's obvious no chip so to be accurate DIY. Very basic - no road closures, tiny field of 119, lack of signage for parking, race hq, start hq and considering this is the 3rd of year of high temps I did wonder why they had weirdly placed water stations somewhere around 2k/8k - 3k/7k. Just plastic cups at the end. SO for £14 OD entry it was somewhat stiff, but the point is to raise funds for the carnival for the day before not to give us extras. THAT BEING SAID, flat and good for a PB and rather like an organised training run and for me it was a time trial at week 4 of a marathon plan so suited me. Good intro for beginners i'd say in a pretty area. Date of review: June 26, 2011

In short: The organisers showed the love for this one - a sheer pleasure to take part. The best marshalling I've seen in 30 years of racing, bar none, and on a very complex course too. I'll be back.Date of review: June 20, 2011

In short: So easy to make right, yet it was all so wrongIn full: I'll not repeat ad nauseum the previous reviews: SHOCKING organisation, poor travel (why not lay on shuttle buses?), no adjective for the aftermath. BUT.....truth be told, the runners weren't particularly uplifting (yes we were cold and fed up but come on, camarderie??) and who do the sub 2s think they are for taking all of the water, energy bars and gels. I saw many a peep walking off with boxes. I was a 2hour girl and crawled under a table to find water and couldn't be bothered to argue for anything else. I was 15 minutes from home and we had post run snacks in our bags. Crowds were great considering the cold, wind and rain and the ladies in greenwich park holding out jelly babies was a lovely thought. Enough of the balanced view, since RTTB I've had a real comedown that I've never known. This was my first HM, in my hometown of Greenwich, in an orange tutu for charity and this ought to have been as close to perfect as possible for a virgin HM. I even hit 2 hours which was a goal I didn't think i would achieve due to the injuries I'd had as well as the two epi fits I'd had in the previous 5 days. Yet the problems were so avoidable. There is no excuse for not putting goods in a bag instead of a scram, no excuse for the delayed start, no excuse for hurdling us in like cattle in lamentable conditions and no excuse for the crap communication on the day. Even the ''helpers'' and marshals left so much to be desired. I finished and I felt nothing but flat. No, not post race come down but the simple things that make your day were not there and could and should have been there. NEVER AGAIN.Date of review: October 5, 2010